AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage on Monday ordered the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations to take over rule-making authority for marijuana regulation and told bureaucrats not to spend any money on it. LePage said in his order that “no employee or department of the Executive Branch may use funds for the purpose of […]
Maine Legislature
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Gov. Paul LePage refuses to sign bill to delay pot sales, ban possession by minors
AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill designed to correct problems in Maine’s new marijuana legalization law breezed through the House and Senate on Thursday but ended up at the center of a political showdown late in the day when Gov. Paul LePage refused to sign or veto it. After meeting with legislative leaders late Thursday afternoon, […]
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Legislature passes marijuana moratorium bill
Senate President Thibodeau: leg. ldrs. will meet with @Governor_LePage at 4 p.m. to discuss the pot moratorium bill. #mepolitics #staytuned — Chris Cousins (@Storytiller) January 26, 2017 AUGUSTA (AP) — State lawmakers on Thursday unanimously approved legislation delaying the retail sale of marijuana until at least February 2018. A referendum approved by voters in November gave […]
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AG Janet Mills says a new psych unit needs legislative approval
PORTLAND — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration needs legislative approval to build a secure, privately run facility for patients in state custody with mental illness who no longer need hospital care, the state attorney general said. Democratic Attorney General Janet Mills sent a letter to the Republican governor’s administration Tuesday. The legislature’s appropriations committee discussed the letter […]
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John Martin looks back at a half-century in the State House
LEWISTON — Just a year out of college when he arrived at the State House in 1964 as a newly elected lawmaker from far northern Maine, John Martin entered a world quite different from the one newcomers find there today. The chamber still had spittoons and ashtrays on every member’s desk, he said, and from […]
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Legislative panel OKs delay to regulate marijuana sales
AUGUSTA — Enactment votes on a bill that would delay portions of Maine’s new recreational marijuana law could come early next week after a unanimous committee vote in favor of the bill Thursday. The Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 12-0 in favor of LD 88, with amendments, after hours of testimony and deliberations devoted […]
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Gov. Paul LePage to give State of the State speech to Legislature
AUGUSTA — Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage is scheduled to deliver a State of the State address after a one-year hiatus from the longstanding tradition. Aides to Republican Senate President Michael Thibodeau and Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon said legislative leaders worked with the governor’s office to schedule the address for Feb. 7. LePage’s office […]
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Legislature eyes earlier time zone for Maine
AUGUSTA — Though it may sound peculiar, some Maine lawmakers are aiming to make the winter sun set later in the Pine Tree State. A measure under consideration by the Committee on State and Local Government would begin the process of shifting Maine into a new time zone that would put it an hour ahead […]
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Legislative leaders agree to delay parts of marijuana legalization
The leaders of the Maine House and Senate have agreed to a limited moratorium on legalizing marijuana, putting off many of the provisions of the new law until Feb. 1, 2018. Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport and Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau of Winterport have been negotiating the terms of the moratorium for […]
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Legislators prepare to rework Gov. Paul LePage’s budget
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s $6.8 billion budget proposal was still being digested in the State House on Monday, but all signs were pointing toward the obvious: The Maine Legislature won’t let it pass the way it came. The LePage administration devoted much of Monday to briefing legislators on the budget, which was released late […]